Ugyne said, ‘My mother was unfaithful?’
James said, ‘It has been known to happen.’
She looked at her father as if he was a stranger. ‘You had Sandau killed?’
‘I arranged for an accident,’ he said weakly. ‘I didn’t know it would get so out of hand. The cave-in killed a half-dozen men. And, I thought, Neville.’ Looking as if he was growing angry, the Baron said, ‘I didn’t know the boy was going to be down there!’ He slapped the table. ‘I tried to treat him fairly.’ Looking at Ugyne, he said, ‘Your mother and I never talked about it after I found out. I tried to raise the boy as my own.’
She stood up and said, ‘I don’t know you.’ She backed away a few steps. ‘I don’t know you at all.’ She turned and ran from the inn.
James said, ‘Baron, we have pressing business, but this will all be mentioned in my report to the Prince of Krondor. I suggest you take a trip to see your liege lord in Romney, and perhaps the King as well. To both of them you owe a complete confession and I think you need to put your affairs in order. I doubt the King will permit you back as Baron. I might also suggest you send Ugyne to stay with Owyn’s family for a while.’
Owyn regained consciousness and said, ‘What happened?’
Gorath helped him to his feet. ‘I was expecting someone else. Sorry.’ The last actually sounded sincere.
Owyn rubbed his swelling jaw. ‘I’ll be all right.’ He looked around. ‘What happened?’
‘I’ll tell you on the way.’
‘On the way where?’ asked Owyn.
James produced a key he had taken off of Navon. ‘Back to Cavell Run.’
When the door was again open, James said, ‘I knew that only a family member would be able to know how to trigger that door from the outside,’ as Owyn jumped down from the ledge. ‘If the other children in the village couldn’t find it, Navon du Sandau from Kenting Rush wasn’t going to blunder up here and find his way into the run.
‘So, I asked a few questions and got the clues I needed,’ he said as they walked back into the dark tunnel. Owyn produced another light with his magic and James continued. ‘We’ve met the Baron. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the Baroness attracted to a flamboyant, handsome man, even if he’s a common mason. So Neville is conceived.
‘The Baron finds out he’s not the father, and he and his wife agree not to discuss it, but every day he sees the boy and is reminded of the betrayal.
‘So, after a decade of daily insult to his manhood, he decides to lure the betrayer up to the run, rig an accident, and extract his revenge. Unfortunately, the boy was watching the work being done when the accident happened.’
Owyn said, ‘And I wasn’t here, and Ugyne couldn’t open the entrance by herself from outside.’
‘And perhaps the Baron himself didn’t realize there was an outside trigger. I don’t know and mostly I don’t care. He killed at least four men and will have to be tried for that.’
They reached the barracks and headed for the stairs to the door with the lock. ‘Neville somehow found his way out of the run. I suspect he was either injured, terrified, or both. We will never know how or why, but somehow he got out and lived. Someone found him and he survived. It might have been the Nighthawks, or he might have come to them later. It may be that a bright young and talented lad like Neville might have seized the opportunity to take control of the Nighthawks when Arutha all but stamped them out in Krondor, ten years ago. It would have been the right time for survivors of that destruction to have been seeking sanctuary in an out-of-the-way place like the run.
‘They changed his appearance enough so it wasn’t apparent to those who knew the boy that he was the same person. Some people change dramatically between eleven summers and twenty-two. Or maybe they used some magic. As I’ve said, we’ll never know. But we do know there were relationships that Neville inherited, between the Nighthawks, the moredhel and the Pantathians.’
Gorath almost spat at the last. ‘Damn snakes and their hot land magic. I can’t abide them.’
‘But Murmandamus counted them useful,’ said James, not knowing that Murmandamus had actually been a Pantathian in disguise, magically altered to look like a moredhel.
He reached the lock and used the key he had taken from Navon. The key turned and the lock opened, and James pushed up on the trap door. It swung away and he mounted the steps and found himself in private quarters. He quickly glanced through the single door and found another barracks, empty and unused for years. But the small room contained chests with gold, gems and documents.
James ignored the gems and gold, and quickly read through documents.
After a moment, he said, ‘Damn me!’
‘What?’ asked Owyn.
‘Northwarden. Delekhan is attacking through Northwarden.’
Gorath said, ‘Why?’
James was silent for a moment, holding up his hand to fend off questions while he thought. ‘It makes sense. That’s why all this murderous insanity has been under way.
‘If Delekhan overruns Northwarden, he can come down the River Vosna; it runs along the northern foothills of the Calara Mountains, and runs through Mastak Gorge. From there it’s only a short portage to the headwaters of the River Rom. After that, he’s only days from Romney. Romney!’ He looked at Owyn and Gorath. ‘That’s why all the troubles in Romney. He needs a city in chaos so it can’t mount resistance.’
‘Why Romney?’ asked Owyn.
‘Because from there he takes the River Rom south and where it turns back toward the southeast he lands and marches overland to Sethanon. There’s nothing but open plain and light woodlands by that route.’
Owyn said, ‘And by burning the keep at Cavell and occupying the run –’
‘– he prevents anyone from occupying a strong position behind his lines,’ finished James.
He stood up and hurried down the steps. ‘We must leave now.’
Gorath and Owyn hurried after. ‘Where are we going?’
‘I’m heading for Northwarden,’ answered James, ‘to warn Baron Gabot of the attack. You need to take these documents to Arutha.’ He handed three rolled-up parchments to Owyn.
‘Arutha?’ Owyn shook his head. ‘Unless we use your Tsurani orb, it’ll take us weeks to return to Krondor.’
‘He’s not in Krondor, so the orb is of no use,’ said James as they reached the waterfall exit. ‘He’s encamped within the northern edge of the Dimwood with a large portion of his army, waiting for word on where the attack is staging, so he can rush to support. He can be within sight of Tyr-Sog, Highcastle, or Northwarden within a week of getting word.’
‘So you want us to tell him to come to Northwarden.’
‘Yes,’ said James, as he scrambled down wet rocks to where the horses were tied.
‘What if he doesn’t believe us?’ asked Gorath. ‘He seemed dubious about my claims when last we met.’
‘Far less dubious than he appeared,’ said James. ‘Let me advise you never to play cards with the Prince. In any event, if he expresses doubts, tell him, “There’s a Party at Mother’s”. That way he’ll know the message is from me.’
Owyn said, ‘Odd, but we will.’
‘James,’ said Gorath, ‘if the Prince is in the Dimwood, so will be the advanced elements of Delekhan’s forces. If the final goal is Sethanon, many of my people will have filtered down through the small gullies and passes in the Teeth of the World and will be readying things for the advancing army next spring.’
‘Well do I know,’ said James. ‘I remember when we evacuated Highcastle and rode across the High Wold and down through the Dimwood.’
‘What if we’re captured or killed?’
Mounting his horse, James said, ‘I have one thing to say to that.’
‘What?’ asked Owyn.
‘Don’t be,’ said James, turning his horse and riding off.
